Auburn man faces weapons charges over Leicester barn break-in

Saturday

Oct 6, 2012 at 6:00 AMOct 6, 2012 at 8:52 AM

A 23-year-old who allegedly stole a cache of weapons a year ago was charged yesterday in connection with the theft.

Brandon Roslund, 23, of 73 Banes St., Auburn, is charged with breaking and entering during the nighttime for a felony, larceny of building, larceny of firearm, possession of a firearm without an Firearm ID Card, conspiracy and making a false report of firearm's transfer/loss. Charges stem from an incident that happened Sept. 20, 2011, inside a barn on Main Street in the Cherry Valley section of Leicester.

On that date, a property owner reported to police that someone gained access to a locked area in his barn and stole three rifles, a shotgun, two air rifles and a medieval crossbow from an apartment area on the second floor of the barn. No signs of forced entry were found in the barn or to the gun locker in which the firearms were kept, according to the police report.

On Oct. 18, a woman called police after she came across two firearms (an AMT .22-caliber Lightning 10-shot rifle and an Ithaca 16-gauge pump action shotgun) wrapped in plastic wrap in her guest bedroom's closet. She told police that she didn't know where they would have came from and she had never seen them up until this point, the police report states.

Inside the closet, police found a plastic Hallmark shopping bag that had three boxes of 16-gauge shotgun shell ammunition, as well as miscellaneous bills, some of which had Mr. Roslund's name on them. The woman said Mr. Roslund is friends with her former boyfriend and Mr. Roslund stayed there for a few weeks in September 2011, according to the police report.

On Oct. 23, Mr. Roslund, who was living in a third floor apartment in the same Cherry Valley barn for a number of months, admitted to handling and being in possession of the recovered rifle and shotgun but denied any additional knowledge of the other stolen items.

On Oct. 28, Mr. Roslund told police that he did break into the Cherry Valley residence with two accomplices.

Mr. Roslund was arraigned yesterday in Western Worcester District Court, East Brookfield and released on personal recognizance. A pretrial hearing is slated for Nov. 20.